Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 1:14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
14. when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed ] Both the participles are primarily used of the way in which animals are taken, the first of capture by the hook or noose, as with fish or the crocodile (Herod. 11. 70), the second of beasts or birds which are attracted by food set for them as a bait. Both words had come to be used figuratively of sensual passion, the latter twice by St Peter (2Pe 2:14; 2Pe 2:18), and the imagery that follows here suggests the thought that St James had the picture of the harlot of Pro 7:6-23 present to his thoughts. There the “young man void of understanding” yields to her allurements as “a bird hasteth to the snare.” “Lust,” or rather, desire, in its widest sense, including desire for safety, riches, ease, as well as sensual pleasure, is to man’s will as the harlot-temptress of that picture. The temptations of which the earlier verses of the Chapter had spoken are thus, though no longer prominent, not excluded. Adversity and persecution expose men to the evil solicitations of their lower nature, to love of ease and safety, no less than luxury and prosperity. In both “desire” tempts the will to depart from what it knows to be the will of God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust – That is, the fountain or source of all temptation is in man himself. It is true that external inducements to sin may be placed before him, but they would have no force if there was not something in himself to which they corresponded, and over which they might have power. There must be some lust; some desire; some inclination; something which is unsatisfied now, which is made the foundation of the temptation, and which gives it all its power. If there were no capacity for receiving food, or desire for it, objects placed before us appealing to the appetite could never be made a source of temptation; if there were nothing in the soul which could be regarded as the love of acquisition or possession, gold would furnish no temptation; if there were no sensual propensities, we should be in that quarter above the power of temptation.
In each case, and in every form, the power of the temptation is laid in some propensity of our nature, some desire of that which we do not now possess. The word rendered lust in this place ( epithumias), is not employed here in the narrow sense in which it is now commonly used, as denoting libidinousness. It means desire in general; an earnest wish for anything. Notes, Eph 4:22. It seems here to be used with reference to the original propensities of our nature – the desires implanted in us, which are a stimulus to employment – as the desire of knowledge, of food, of power, of sensual gratifications; and the idea is, that a man may be drawn along by these beyond the prescribed limits of indulgence, and in the pursuit of objects that are forbidden. He does not stop at the point at which the law requires him to stop, and is therefore guilty of transgression. This is the source of all sin. The original propensity may not be wrong, but may be perfectly harmless – as in the case of the desire of food, etc. Nay, it may furnish a most desirable stimulus to action; for how could the human powers be called forth, if it were not for this? The error, the fault, the sin, is, not restraining the indulgence where we are commanded to do it, either in regard to the objects sought, or in regard to the degree of indulgence.
And enticed – Entrapped, caught; that is, he is seized by this power, and held fast; or he is led along and beguiled, until he falls into sin, as in a snare that springs suddenly upon him.
Epithumia in the New Testament, is sometimes employed in a good sense, Luk 22:15; Phi 1:23; 1Th 2:17; often in a bad sense, as in Mar 4:19; Joh 8:44; Rom 1:24; Rom 6:12; Rom 7:7; 1Jo 2:16; but there is no difficulty in making the distinction; the context easily determining the matter. And this passage in James seems at once to fix down on epithumias the sense of evil or corrupt desire. That it can mean a harmless propensity; or that it is a propensity on whose character the apostle does not at all pronounce, is incredible. It is said to draw away a man and entice him; to conceive and bring forth sin: and a principle from which such fruit springs cannot be very harmless. Without doubt, the apostle traces the whole evil of temptation, which some falsely ascribed to God, to the sinful desires of the human heart; and, as our author remarks, he seems to take the common sense view without entertaining any thought of nice philosophical distinction. We cannot for a moment suppose the apostle to say – the evil is not to be traced to God, but to a harmless propensity.
The whole passage, with the words and figures which are used, show that the idea in the apostles mind was that of an enticing harlot. The epithumia is personified. She persuades the understanding and will into her impure embrace. The result of this fatal union is the conception and ultimate bringing forth of actual sin, which again brings forth death. This is the true genealogy of sin (McKnight); and to say that the epithumia, or evil desire, of which the apostle says that it is the origo mali, is harmless, – is to contradict him, and Paul also, who in a parallel passage says that he had not known the epithumia, or inward desire after forbidden objects, to be sinful, unless the law had enlightened him and said thou shalt not covet. Mr. Scott has spoken in strong terms of the folly of some parties who understand epithumia. Here only of the desire of sensual gross indulgence, to the exclusion of other sinful desires; but the extreme of interpreting it as meaning nothing sinful at all, deserves equal reprehension. The reader, however, will notice that the author does not venture on this assertion. He says it may be so, and otherwise modifies his view.)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. But every man is tempted] Successfully solicited to sin, when he is drawn away of his own lust-when, giving way to the evil propensity of his own heart, he does that to which he is solicited by the enemy of his soul.
Among the rabbins we find some fine sayings on this subject. In Midrash hanaalam, fol. 20, and Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 17, it is said: “This is the custom of evil concupiscence, yetser hara: To-day it saith, Do this; to-morrow, Worship an idol. The man goes and worships. Again it saith, Be angry.”
“Evil concupiscence is, at the beginning, like the thread of a spider’s web; afterwards it is like a cart rope.” Sanhedrim, fol. 99.
In the words, drawn away by his own lust and enticed, , there is a double metaphor; the first referring to the dragging a fish out of the water by a hook which it had swallowed, because concealed by a bait; the second, to the enticements of impure women, who draw away the unwary into their snares, and involve them in their ruin. Illicit connections of this kind the writer has clearly in view; and every word that he uses refers to something of this nature, as the following verse shows.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He shows the great cause of sin; that lust hath a greater hand in it than either the devil or his instruments, who cannot make us sin without ourselves: they sometimes tempt, and do not prevail; but when lust tempts, it always prevails, either in whole or in part, it being a degree of sin to be our own tempters.
Drawn away; either this notes a degree of sin, the hearts being drawn off from God; or the way whereby lust brings into sin, viz. the impetuousness and violence of its motions in us.
Of his own lust; original corruption in its whole latitude, though chiefly with respect to the appetitive faculties.
And enticed; either a further degree of sin, enticed by the pleasantness of the object, as represented by our own corruption; or another way of lusts working in us to sin, viz. by the delightfulness and pleasure of its motions: in the former it works by a kind of force, in this by flattery and deceit. It is either a metaphor taken from a fish enticed by a bait, and drawn after it, or rather from a harlot drawing a young man out of the right way, and alluring him with the bait of pleasure to commit folly with her.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Every man, when tempted, isso through being drawn away of (again here, as in Jas1:13, the Greek for “of” expresses the actualsource, rather than the agent of temptation) his own lust. Thecause of sin is in ourselves. Even Satan’s suggestions do notendanger us before they are made our own. Each one has hisown peculiar (so the Greek) lust, arising from his owntemperament and habit. Lust flows from the original birth-sin in man,inherited from Adam.
drawn awaythebeginning step in temptation: drawn away from truth andvirtue.
enticedliterally,”taken with a bait,” as fish are. The further progress:the man allowing himself (as the Greek middle voiceimplies) to be enticed to evil [BENGEL].”Lust” is here personified as the harlot that allures theman.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But every man is tempted,…. To sin, and he falls in with the temptation, and by it,
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed; the metaphor is taken either from fishes, who are enticed by the bait, and drawn out by the hook; or from a lascivious woman, who meeting with a young man, entices him, and draws him away after her to commit iniquity with her: by “lust” is meant the principle of corrupt nature, which has its residence in the heart of man; is natural and hereditary to him, and therefore is called his own; he is conceived and shapen in it; he brings it into the world with him, and it continues in him, and is called his own heart’s lust, Ro 1:24. Now this meeting with some bait, which entices and draws it out, or with some external object, which promises pleasure or profit, a man is allured, and ensnared, and drawn away by it, and so the temptation begins: thus, for instance, covetousness was the predominant lust in Judas; this meeting with an external object, or objects, which promised him profit, he is at once enticed and drawn away to betray his Lord and master for the sake of it: so sin often promises pleasure, though it is but an imaginary, and a short lived one; which takes with a man’s own lust, and corruption within him, and so he is allured and drawn aside; and to this, and not to God, should he attribute temptation to sin.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When he is drawn away by his own lust ( ). is old word for craving (from , to have a desire for) either good (Php 1:23) or evil (Ro 7:7) as here. Like a fish drawn out from his retreat.
Enticed (). Present passive participle of , old verb from (bait), to catch fish by bait or to hunt with snares and Philo has ‘ (is enticed by pleasure). In N.T. only here and 2Pet 2:14; 2Pet 2:18. Allured by definite bait.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Drawn away [] . Only here in New Testament. This and the following word are metaphors from hunting and fishing. Drawn away, as beasts are enticed from a safe covert into a place beset with snares. Note the present participle, as indicating the progress of the temptation : “is being drawn away.”
Enticed [] . As a fish with bait. Also the present participle. See on 2Pe 2:14.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) Man’s source of evil or bent toward evil is inherent. Lust is personified as the harlot that baits, allures, or traps men to do evil deeds.
2) James then affirms that each one who is tempted, or allured in the evil sense, experiences such by letting go of his own inherent desires, when he is baited, trapped, or drawn away by another evil person, or by Satan, as David did, Psa 51:1-16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14 When he is drawn away by his own lust. As the inclination and excitement to sin are inward, in vain does the sinner seek an cause from an external impulse. At the same time these two effects of lust ought to be noticed — that it ensnares us by its allurements, and that it does us away; each of which is sufficient to render us guilty. (106)
(106) The words are very striking, — “But every one is tempted (or, seduced) when, by his own lust, he is drawn away, (that is, from what is good,) and is caught by a bait (or, ensnared.)”
He is in the first drawn off from the line of duty, and then he is caught by something that is pleasing and plausible, but like the bait, it has in it a deadly hook.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) So far the inspired Apostle has spoken of the outward part of temptation; now he lays bare the innerfor we suffer the two-fold evil. From without come the whispers of Satan, by himself or his legionaries, skilled in all that may entice and delude the unwary soul. And if the doctrine be true that to every one a guardian angel is appointed, so also would seem to be the opposite idea, that each has some demon of the pit watching him incessantly, and commissioned specially for his utter destruction. How terrible must be the skill of such assailants, experienced in the arts which have deceived mankind since the first fatal day. But there is the limit of external power in this matter; the ablest and subtlest fiend can but guess what is passing in its victims mind, and shape its snares accordingly. God only is the discerner of hearts, and the spirit of man which is in him alone, with its Maker, knoweth the things of a man (1Co. 2:11). The Holy Spirit searcheth all things (Jas. 1:10), and all are manifest in His sight (Heb. 4:13), but to no less than His own omniscience. Satan, therefore, can merely act on his general knowledge of human nature, aided by particular guesses at the individual before him, whom he fain would destroy. He has learned too well the deep corruption of the heart, and knows what gaudy bait will most attract the longing and licentious eyes.
Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of (or, by) his own lust, and enticed.Evil humanity thrills responsive as a harp played by a cunning hand; but no power of hell can force its way through the barriers which God the Holy Ghost erects around the faithful and confiding soul: only by treason of the man himself can the great enemy enter in and reign.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. We are now told how temptation does come. St. James does not here affirm a devilish tempter, nor does he deny the existence of such. He only shows how the coming temptation reaches us through our susceptibilities.
Lust The Greek word is often used in the New Testament in a good sense, and derives its evil meaning from the connexion. It means the predisposition, the susceptibility, to good or evil. In itself, as an undirected, unperverted susceptibility, it is innocent of sin.
Drawn away Or, more properly, drawn out; when his susceptibility is drawn towards the wrong.
Enticed As a fish by the bait. The yielding of the will to the incitement commences the sin. That is, when the incitement towards evil, which in English is truly called lust, induces the volitional consent, then responsibility for actual sin commences.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.’
What then is it that causes men to be tempted? And the answer is that it is as a result of his own fallen desires. It is the result of his lustful nature. He is tempted, he is drawn by the temptation, he is then enticed into sin. He sees something, or hears something or becomes aware of something and then his desires take over and he seeks to make it his own, especially if it is something forbidden. This was what happened in Eden. The woman saw and desired. She wanted the fruit with all her heart and was tempted. And as she continued to gaze at it she was enticed. She saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, was a delight to the eyes, and was to be desired to give her greater wisdom (Gen 3:6). And that is why she fell. In the end her failure was due simply to her failure to resist temptation by running away, followed by a period when she allowed enticement. Had her heart been filled with love for God she would have turned away immediately, but as it was she lingered, considering the temptation and weighing it up, and as a result she was enticed and fell (see 2Ti 2:22 for what she should have done, ‘flee from youthful desires’).
There are three main types of sin, the sin of the flesh (Eph 2:3; 1Jn 2:16), the sin of the mind (Eph 2:3; 1Jn 2:16), and the sin of seeking worldly status (‘the pride of life’, 1Jn 2:16). The first is to be fought by running (2Ti 2:22), the second by setting the mind on things above (Col 3:2), and the third by humble submission to God (Jas 4:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jam 1:14. When he is drawn away of his own lust, &c. “Drawn out of the water, and taken with the bait;” : in both these words there is an allusion to the catching a fish with a bait; and lusts, or sensual pleasures, are here represented as the bait with which wicked men are caught. Grotius observes, that the best Greek authors have used this phrase, “To be ensnared by the belly, and by fair words.” Plato said, “That pleasure is the bait of evil;” to which Cicero alludes, when he says, “The divine Plato calls pleasure the bait of evil, because men are taken with it, as fishes are taken with a hook.””Every man is tempted (in this bad sense of the word) by the innate weakness of his own nature, in concurrence with the circumstances of life in which he is placed, being allured by his own lusts; and for want of wisely and resolutely opposing the first rising of them, he is ensnared to the actual commission of sin.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jas 1:14 . That “ proceeds not from God,” is the thought of Jas 1:13 . Whence comes it then? The answer is given in this verse: “ Every man is tempted, when he is drawn out and allured by his own lust. ” The words . belong not to (Theile, Wiesinger), but to (Luther, Baumgarten, Semler, Knapp, Grashof, Hottinger, de Wette, Brckner, Lange, and others), as otherwise these ideas would drag too much, and would receive their closer reference only by supplying something, as (Wiesinger). will describe according to its process; he therefore places the idea first, and then gives in what follows how it occurs, consequently the construction requires not to be altered into (Schneckenburger).
, as is evident from what goes before, is to be supplied to ; it corresponds to , Jas 1:13 . The attribute is emphatic, expressing the contrast to in Jas 1:13 . It is brought prominently forward because has its ground not in God, but belongs to man.
By is not denoted “innocent sensuousness,” but it occurs here, as everywhere in the N. T. (except where its specific object is named, as in Luk 22:15 ; Phi 1:23 ; 1Th 2:17 ), even without the addition of , , or some similar adjectives, in sensu malo; yet it is not to be understood as original sin: “the sinful tendency, the same as Paul calls in Rom 7:7 ” (Hofmann, Schriftbew. I. p. 469; Wiesinger); rather here is the same as in Rom 7:7 , namely, lust for the forbidden action springing from original sin (which Paul designates as the which is “ ,” but by the commandment revives, and ). So also Brckner. [71]
James does not here speak of the origin and development of sin in general, but he wishes to mention, in contrast to , by what sinful man is tempted to the definite act of sin, so that he had no occasion to refer to original sin.
With regard to the form of expression, Pott correctly says: , et personarum vim habent; imaginem meretricis suppeditant voces , , , nec non et atque . The two words and sind verba e re venatoria et piscatoria in rem amatoriam et inde in nostrum tropum translata (Schneckenburger); this at least is valid of . The meaning: protrahere in littus (Pott, and also de Wette), does not here lie at the root of the idea ( . in N. T.), for then it would require to be placed after (as also Wieseler, Brckner, and Lange observe); Schulthess more correctly explains it: elicere bestias ex tuto ubi latent in locum hamis retibusque expositum; but it is probable that James had not the original figure so definitely before his eyes. Many interpreters (Menochius, Grotius, Laurentius, Pott, Hottinger, Baumgarten, Theile, and others) supply a bono to . and ad malum to ., or something similar; yet incorrectly, as the idea is rather that as a harlot entices man, that is, his will , to herself; the in . is thus to be explained, that man, enticed by the allurements of , is enticed to forsake his former position (as the place where he remained hitherto concealed); Schneckenburger: statu quasi suo et loco se extrahi et dimoveri ipse patitur. It is incorrect to explain as equivalent to , or as an intensified form instead of . [72] The being taken, captive by is indicated by . [73] , in the N. T. used here only and in 2Pe 2:2 ; 2Pe 2:14 ; 2Pe 2:18 , is also among classical writers used figuratively only in sensu malo; comp. particularly, Plato, Tim. lxix. 6: ; Plut. de ser. Num. Vind.: ( ).
[71] According to Hofmann’s explanation, the form of expression of James would be diametrically opposed to that of Paul; for what Paul calls , would call ; and what Paul calls , would call ! And how objectionable is it to say, with Wiesinger: , when stirred up, produces those in Gal 5:16 ; Gal 5:24 , that and that in Rom 7:7-8 . It is also incorrect, with Lange, to understand by . “original sin itself in its concrete activity,” or “the folly which the individual encounters externally, over against which the lust belonging to him is objectively placed,” and to determine the same more definitely as the totality of those “glittering, variegated, visionary expectations which seductively met both the Jews and the Jewish Christians, which had sprung from, the matter of the chiliastic, world-lusting, spiritual pride.” James does not here speak of as attacking an individual from outside, but only of that which is within him.
[72] See Athenaeus, i. 3, c. 8: . Ael. N. An. vi. 31: .
[73] Lange: “To draw off and to allure German: Ablocken and Anlocken; the man is first drawn out from his inward self-control and fortress, and then attracted (drawn to) by the allurements of the harlot.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Ver. 14. Drawn away of his lust ] , Satan hath only a persuading sleight, not an enforcing might. Our own concupiscence carries the greatest stroke.
And enticed ] As the silly fish is by the bait covering the hook, being first drawn aside into the clear water. a Or as the unwary younker, drawn to folly by some subtle she-sinner; who thereupon conceiveth, and bringeth forth a bastardly brood.
a , quasi , a .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14 .] but each man is tempted, being (slightly causal, ‘in that he is’) drawn out and enticed by his own lust (the image, if we are justified in supposing that a fixed one was contemplated from the first, seems to be, as Pott observes (in Huther), “ , , et personarum vim habent: imaginem meretricis suppeditant voces , , , necnon et atque .” The participles and are abundantly illustrated by the Commentators, e. g. in Wetst. by Xen. Mem. ii. 1. 4, . , . And Herod. ii. 70, of taking the crocodile, . . . . . . Schneckenburger says, “ et sunt verba e re venatoria et piscatoria in rem amatoriam et inde in nostrum tropum translata:” only we must not here interpret which precedes ., as in Herod. above, “to draw to land,” but rather as Schulthess, “elicere bestias ex tuto, ubi latent, in locum hamis retibusque expositum.” But, as Huther observes, it is hardly likely that the original reference of the words would be distinctly before the Apostle as he used them. Cf. Aristot. Polit. Jas 1:10 , , “ab uxore sollicitatus.” In the Test. XII. Patrum, p. 702 (Kypke), Joseph says of Potiphar’s wife, . And cf. Homer’s , Od. . 294: and, which is the nearest correspondence of all, Plut. de Sera Numinis Vindicta (in Huther), ( ). With regard to the matter treated, and the proper sense of here, it seems to me that Huther is right in setting aside the difficulties which Hofmann (Schriftb. i. p. 415) and after him Wiesinger, have found in this passage as compared with Rom 7:7 . St. James is not here speaking of the original source of sin in man, but of the actual source of temptation to sin, when it occurs. The of St. Paul, the sinful principle in man, is not here in question: we take up the matter, so to speak, lower down the stream: and the here is the there, itself the effect of sin (abstr.) in the members, and leading to sin (concrete) in the conduct):
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 1:14 . : according to this the evil originates in man himself, which would be the case more especially with the sin of lust; with regard to temptation to sin of another character see 1Th 3:5 , , who is doubtlessly to be identified with Satan. : describes the method of the working of , the first effect of which is “to draw the man out of his original repose, the second to allure him to a definite bait” (Mayor). . is in its original meaning used of fishing, . of hunting, and then of the wiles of the harlot; both the participles might be transferred, from their literal use in application to hunting or fishing, to a metaphorical use of alluring to sensual sin, and thus desire entices the man from his self-restraint as with the wiles of a harlot, a metaphor maintained by the words which follow, ‘conceived,’ ‘beareth,’ ‘bringeth forth’; cf. 2Pe 2:14 ; 2Pe 2:18 , where the same verb is found, and Philo, Quod omn. prob lib. , 22, ‘driven by passion or enticed by pleasure’ ” (Knowling).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
every man = each one.
when, &c. = being drawn away. Greek. exelkomai. Only here.
of. App-104.
lust. See Joh 8:44, and compare Rom 7:7.
enticed. Greek. deleazo. Only here and 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] but each man is tempted, being (slightly causal, in that he is) drawn out and enticed by his own lust (the image, if we are justified in supposing that a fixed one was contemplated from the first, seems to be, as Pott observes (in Huther), , , et personarum vim habent: imaginem meretricis suppeditant voces , , , necnon et atque . The participles and are abundantly illustrated by the Commentators, e. g. in Wetst. by Xen. Mem. ii. 1. 4, . , . And Herod. ii. 70, of taking the crocodile, … … Schneckenburger says, et sunt verba e re venatoria et piscatoria in rem amatoriam et inde in nostrum tropum translata: only we must not here interpret which precedes ., as in Herod. above, to draw to land, but rather as Schulthess, elicere bestias ex tuto, ubi latent, in locum hamis retibusque expositum. But, as Huther observes, it is hardly likely that the original reference of the words would be distinctly before the Apostle as he used them. Cf. Aristot. Polit. Jam 1:10, , ab uxore sollicitatus. In the Test. XII. Patrum, p. 702 (Kypke), Joseph says of Potiphars wife, . And cf. Homers , Od. . 294: and, which is the nearest correspondence of all, Plut. de Sera Numinis Vindicta (in Huther), (). With regard to the matter treated, and the proper sense of here, it seems to me that Huther is right in setting aside the difficulties which Hofmann (Schriftb. i. p. 415) and after him Wiesinger, have found in this passage as compared with Rom 7:7. St. James is not here speaking of the original source of sin in man, but of the actual source of temptation to sin, when it occurs. The of St. Paul, the sinful principle in man, is not here in question: we take up the matter, so to speak, lower down the stream: and the here is the there, itself the effect of sin (abstr.) in the members, and leading to sin (concrete) in the conduct):
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Jam 1:14. , every man) Antithetical to , no man, Jam 1:13.-, by) Lust is, as it were, the harlot; human nature, the man.-, his own) We ought therefore to seek the cause of sin in ourselves, and not without us. Even the suggestions of the devil do not occasion danger, before they are made our own (). Every one has his own peculiar lust, arising from his own peculiar disposition, habit, and temperament.-, drawn away) in the beginning of the temptation, which draws him away from truth and virtue. A passive participle.-, enticed) in its further progress, admitting the allurement to evil (allowing himself to be enticed). A middle participle.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
tempted
“Temptation” is used in two senses:
(1) Solicitation to evil (e.g. Gen 3:1-6; Mat 4:1; 1Co 10:13; 2Co 11:3; 2Co 11:4; Jam 1:14).
(2) Testing under trial (eg) Gen 22:1; Luk 22:28 Cf Luk 4:2, Cf Mat 6:13 (solicitation to evil) and 1Pe 1:6 (testing under trial).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
when: Jam 4:1, Jam 4:2, Gen 6:5, Gen 8:21, Jos 7:21-24, 2Sa 11:2, 2Sa 11:3, 1Ki 21:2-4, Job 31:9, Job 31:27, Pro 4:23, Isa 44:20, Hos 13:9, Mat 5:28, Mat 15:18, Mat 15:20, Mar 7:21, Mar 7:22, Rom 7:11, Rom 7:13, Eph 4:22, Heb 3:13
Reciprocal: Exo 8:32 – General 2Sa 11:4 – he lay 2Sa 12:4 – a traveller 2Sa 24:1 – he 1Ki 21:4 – And he laid him 2Ch 18:19 – Who shall entice Job 15:12 – thine heart Job 31:1 – think Pro 6:25 – Lust Pro 9:17 – Stolen Pro 12:26 – but Isa 32:6 – and his heart Isa 65:2 – after Jer 17:9 – General Jer 22:17 – thine eyes Jer 44:25 – ye will Eze 11:21 – whose Zec 7:10 – imagine Mal 2:15 – take Mar 7:20 – General Rom 6:12 – in the lusts Rom 7:8 – wrought Rom 8:6 – to be carnally minded Rom 8:13 – ye live 1Th 3:5 – lest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jas 1:14. James uses the process of natural reproduction to illustrate the course of sin. First a man’s lust (evil desire) entices the object or victim of wicked design.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 1:14. But every man who is tempted is tempted, namely to evil, when he is drawn away of his own lust. By lust here is meant evil desires in general. The doctrine of human depravity is assumed rather than asserted. St. James is not speaking here of the original source of sin in the human race, but of the cause of temptation to evil. These solicitations, he observes, arise from within; they have their origin in our evil desires; our passions are the occasion of our yielding to temptation.
and enticed; literally, allured as a fish by a bait. Some suppose that the apostle by these two terms, drawn away and enticed, denotes drawn away from good and enticed to evil; but this is putting more into these words than they contain. St. James, then, here tells us where to lay the blame of our temptation or incitement to sin; certainly not on God, for He tempteth no man to evil; but on ourselveson those sinful propensities which exist within us. It is we ourselves that yield. We sin simply because we choose to sin. Even Satan can only tempt; he cannot constrain men to commit evil.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Jas 1:14-15. But every man is tempted when In the beginning of the temptation; he is drawn away of his own lust Greek, ; literally, he is drawn out of God, his strong refuge, by his own desire; excited by some external object presenting itself; and enticed , caught with a bait. It is generally supposed that the allusion here is to the drawing of fish out of a river with a baited hook: a metaphor used by Plato, as quoted by Cicero, (De Senect., cap. 13,) Divine enim Plato, escam malorum appellat voluptatem; quod ea videlicet homines capiantur ut hamo pisces. Plato divinely calls pleasure a bait of evil things; namely, because by it men are taken as fishes by a hook. With regard to most temptations that draw men into sin, the case seems to be thus: 1st, An outward object presents itself, which appears to be desirable, either on account of the profit or pleasure it seems calculated to afford; 2d, Through an inordinate love of ease, honour, wealth, or pleasure, a desire of that object arises in a mans corrupt heart; 3d, That desire is yielded to, instead of being resisted, and thereby he is drawn from that line of duty in which he before walked, and from that state of union and communion with God which he enjoyed, and is entangled in the guilt and misery of sin. We are therefore to look for the causes of every sin chiefly in ourselves; in our appetites, passions, and corrupt inclinations. Even the injections of the devil cannot hurt us, till we make them our own, by entertaining and yielding to them. Then, when lust, desire, hath conceived By obtaining the consent of our will, that is, when it is yielded to; it bringeth forth actual sin By a speedy birth, where, perhaps, the full indulgence of the desire was not at first intended. It does not follow from this, that the desire itself is not sin. He that begets a man is himself a man; and sin, when it is finished Actually committed; bringeth forth death Tends, in its consequences, to the final ruin of both soul and body, as naturally as the conception of an animal does to its birth. Indeed, sin is born big with death. Thus St. James represents mens lust as a harlot, which entices their understanding and will into its impure embraces, and from that conjunction conceives sin. And sin, being brought forth and nourished by frequent repetitions, in its turn begets death, which destroys the sinner. This is the true genealogy of sin and death. Lust is the mother of sin, and sin the mother of death; and the sinner the parent of both. Jas 1:18, the apostle gives the genealogy of righteousness. All the righteous deeds which men perform, and the holy designs and desires, intentions and affections, which are found in them, proceed from their renewed nature; and their nature is renewed by the power of truth and grace; and God is the prime mover in the whole. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Ah, now we see where temptation comes from (This is the same Greek word that is translated tempted previously). The Devil may set traps, lay wait to trip us up, but it is our own mind and character that is the real culprit. He may dangle the carrot, but it is man that must start chasing it with a decision of the mind.
Every man – not most men, not a few men, not a lot of men, but “every” man is tempted. Every single one, the tall ones, the short ones, the rich ones, the poor ones, the handsome ones, the not so handsome ones, the educated ones, the uneducated ones – every single solitary man is in view.
How is he tempted; when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. The final and ultimate culprit is the man’s lust and allowing himself to be enticed. Indeed, the construction seems to indicate that this enticement is coming from within him – it is his, it is his mind that responds to the lust and allows germination of thoughts that are improper.
Something of note – “tempted” and “drawn away” are both passive indicating that this process is going on within him, but it is a process that seems to be on automatic. Once lust is free it kind of does its own thing if it is not brought into check.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
Rather than blaming God we need to recognize that we are responsible when we yield to temptation, not God. There is nothing in God that responds positively to sin, but there is much in us that does.
"Desire (epithymia) does not always have a negative meaning (cf. Luk 22:15; Php 1:23), but here, as most often in the New Testament, it refers to fleshly, selfish, illicit desire. While the word often describes specifically sexual passions, the use of the singular here suggests a broader conception." [Note: Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James, p. 73.]
What practical difference does it make if God tempts us or if He allows us to experience temptation from other sources? Perhaps we can better appreciate the difference if we think of God as our Father. No good earthly father would deliberately seduce his child into sin by trying to make him or her fall. However every good father will deliberately allow his child to enter situations in life in which the child must make moral choices. We realize that sending a child to school or into the community, at the proper age, is good for a child because it matures him or her. Likewise God grows us up by allowing certain experiences to assail us, though He Himself only gives good gifts to His children (Jas 1:18; Luk 11:13). Similarly a schoolteacher will test his students to help them grow, but he should never tempt them to do evil.